Educational Tours

Educational tours or field trips are learning experiences outside the classroom. These trips supplement classroom learning by providing students with an opportunity to see the actual places, artifacts, flora and fauna, or phenomena that are described in textbooks and lectures. They also enrich the students’ experiences by exposing them to situations that are new to them. Educational tours may also be undertaken by family groups, whether homeschooling or not. At the vocational and college level, highly specialized field trips may be taken in order for students to gain firsthand knowledge on their major.

Criteria

Consider the following in determining the itinerary for an educational trip:

How effective will the itinerary be in achieving the learning objectives for the activity?

Are the venues sufficiently educational and at the same time interesting to the students and appropriate to their age level?

Is each venue large enough to accommodate the group?

Is the venue is safe, comfortable, and equipped with sufficient facilities? You might have a problem if you go to a place where there are no bathrooms or where children can easily wander off and get lost.

How many school subjects or lessons can you relate the field trip to?

Is there a wide enough variety of attractions and activities to prevent boredom?

Are rest stops provided at appropriate points during the field trip?

How taxing are the activities? Make sure that the amount of physical exertion is limited to what is manageable for the students and that there is enough time to rest between physical activities.

Is the tour affordable? Compare the rates of various tour operators and venues.

Are the sites near enough to the school and each other to cover the itinerary efficiently? To avoid wasted time, the sites should not be too far. A nearer venue that has similar attractions should be chosen over farther ones.

Can the number of sites be covered at a leisurely enough pace? The number of venues should be limited so that students will have enough time to appreciate what the place has to offer. About an hour is sufficient for most museums, parks, and historical sites but more time should be given for larger venues with more activities to offer.

How likely is it that students could have gone to the place on their own? Try to choose places that most students would not have visited.

Are tour guides and learning materials like videos and brochures provided by the tour company or at the venue?

Organization tips

It is best to do an ocular inspection of the field trip venues before bringing the students.

Large school groups may be divided into smaller ones which may be sent to different venues at different times.

Brief the students beforehand on what the objectives are for the field trip.

Brief the students on what behavior is expected of them in the bus and at the venues.

Make sure that students dispose of their trash properly.

Inform participants of what kind of clothing, equipment, and provisions they will need to bring.

Have all participants wear something that will allow their easy identification as part of your group, such as a uniform, a shirt of a certain color, or an ID.

Bring a first aid kit and someone who knows how to use it.

Provide group insurance.

Make certain that parents are informed of the itinerary and have given permission for their children to join the field trip.

Find out about any special medical conditions that students may have such as recent surgeries, recent illnesses, allergies, or chronic medical conditions. Such students should make sure to bring any needed medicines. Only doctors are legally permitted to dispense medicines. Even trained first aid personnel cannot dispense medicines.

Making the most of the field trip

While simply going to a new place is educational in itself, to make the most of the experience, provide tasks like the following:

Before the field trip, give out a worksheet or list of questions that the students will be expected to answer afterwards. Include not only factual questions like “What animals live in the caves of Biak-na-Bato?” but reflective questions like, “What do you think it was like to hide out in a cave?”

For younger children, give a checklist of things to look for with items like certain architectural details, a certain type of tree or animal, a flower of a certain color, an artwork by a certain artist, etc. Afterwards, have students give details on where they saw each item and what it looked like.

Encourage students to take photographs (when allowed) or make sketches of things that they see and compile them later in a scrapbook.

Some possible educational trips

The following educational trips can be undertaken by most school groups in and near Metro Manila within a day and are appropriate for grade school to high school.

Casa Manila – A museum of furniture and artifacts representative of an actual Philippine home during Spanish colonization, it gives a picture of the lives of everyday people in the past as well as exhibiting plenty of fine antique furniture.

Fort Santiago – Not only is it an authentic old fort, it contains an attractive exhibit on the life of national hero Jose Rizal, one of the most famous of the prisoners incarcerated here.

Bahay Tsinoy – Almost life-sized dioramas with plenty of historic detail plus sound effects make this museum interesting and educational for all students.

San Agustin Museum (for high school students) – One of the finest churches from the Spanish colonial period, it also houses a collection of religious artifacts.

Metropolitan Museum – Among its permanent collections are the impressive displays of pre-Hispanic gold and pottery. The museum also has changing exhibits as well as a permanent collection of contemporary artworks.

Leisure Farms - Learn about ecology and agriculture in this eco-theme park

History and nature tour of Biak-Na-Bato

Barasoain Church & Ecclesiastical Museum – Visit the famous old Barasoain Church and view religious artifacts.

Biak-Na-Bato National Park – The caves of Biak-na-Bato are full of fascinating geological formations and are inhabited by birds and bats. In addition, they were the historic hideout of the Katipunan during the 1896 Philippine Revolution. The remains of stone fortresses can still be seen along the river.